Philips Semiconductors NV has signed a joint-venture agreement with the China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT), and the research and development arm of China Electronic Corp.'s wireless division (CECW) to design and license TD-SCDMA (Time-Division Synchronous Code-Division Multiple Access) technology. The technologies include platform design, chip sets and software within wireless user devices, and end-user equipment within and outside China, according to a statement from Philips.

Philips will provide its multimode chip sets, while CECW will provide the protocol stack software and terminal test technology, Philips said. CATT will provide the joint venture with the TD-SCDMA core technology, which is a homegrown 3G (third-generation) standard for the Chinese market, approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) last year.

The three-way agreement signals increased integration of the TD-SCDMA standard and technology into products, speeding up the development of 3G in China, the company said.

The spectral efficiency of TD-SCDMA, higher than that of the CDMA systems currently in use in China, will help meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile phone services with the limited spectrum resources available, according to CATT. As an advocate of the TD-SCDMA standard, CATT plans to promote widespread market acceptance of the standard in China and overseas, it said.

According to Philips, the joint venture will enable the company to establish stronger technological cooperation with Chinese companies, integrating capital and resources to improve the product line of its semiconductor division.

TD-SCDMA enables high-speed wireless data transmission at flexible data rates, and is able to handle both symmetrical (same bandwidth in each direction) and asymmetrical services efficiently. The latter is particularly useful for wireless Internet access, as typically much more information is transmitted to the user than by them. TD-SCDMA is able to support a variety of 3G services and makes optimum use of wireless frequency resources assigned to 3G, making it suitable for use in densely populated areas, the company said.